Help Pass Permitless Concealed Carry In NC

North Carolina has and has had permitless open carry since 1922. That is when the North Carolina Supreme Court in State v. Kerner said it was a constitutional violation to prohibit open carry. Now we are fighting to have what 27 other states have – unlicensed or permitless concealed carry.

Grass Roots North Carolina plans to deliver petitions demanding passage of permitless concealed carry to Speaker Tim Moore on Tuesday. Thursday, May 4th, is the last day for a bill to pass the House in order qualify for the crossover deadline. If the House does not pass HB 189 by then, permitless carry will be dead for the remainder of the next two years in the General Assembly.

GRNC also has an alert up with pre-written language with which to contact your State Representative. You can find it here.

I have embedded the petition below which has a QR code to lead you to where you will need to sign it. Frankly, I don’t think it matters if you live in North Carolina or not, we need numbers.

Pistol Purchase Permit Repeal Passes NC House

The North Carolina House of Representatives passed the omnibus SB41 yesterday by a vote of 70 aye, 44 nay, and 6 excused absences. Four of the excused were Republicans. The enrolled bill now goes to Gov. Roy Cooper’s desk. It is anticipated that Cooper will veto the bill in keeping with the wishes of his anti-gun masters. To override, all Republicans in the Senate must vote for the override and all House Republicans plus one House Democrat. An absent Democrat or two on the day of the override vote will work as well.

The bill, as noted earlier, repeals the Jim Crow-inspired pistol purchase permit, allows churches with attached private schools to allow carry when students are not present, and launches a statewide safe storage initiative for firearms that cannot advocate for gun control.

Paul Valone, President of Grass Roots North Carolina, issued this statement on the passage of the bill:

“In passing Senate Bill 41, today was a great victory for the Second Amendment. GRNC wishes to thank Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore, as well as sponsors and “main movers” of the bill including Sens. Danny Britt; Warren Daniel; and Jim Perry; and Reps. Destin Hall; Jay Adams; Hugh Blackwell; Allen Chesser; Kyle Hall; Bobby Hanig; Kelly Hastings; Neal Jackson; Keith Kidwell; Jeff, McNeely; Ben Moss; Mark Pless; Jason Saine; Carson Smith; plus Democrats who stood courageously: Marvin Lucas, Michael Wray, and Shelly Willingham, and finally the many others whose co-sponsorship and votes who made the victory possible. GRNC particularly thanks our members and supporters, whose thousands of emails and phone calls made this victory inevitable. We are confident that we will over-ride the inevitable veto by anti-freedom Governor Roy Cooper. Very soon, we will release more details of the vicious floor fight waged by Democrats to stop the bill, and the well-managed efforts Republican leadership used to stop it.”

There has been no whiny response as of yet from Everytown, Moms Demand Action, Giffords, NCGV, or the rest of the gun control industry. They are still reveling in the virtually meaningless executive actions by President Biden and Gov. Roy Cooper.

Reminders To Politicians

Politicians need reminders on who “brung them to the dance” lest they start believing they did it all on their own. A sparkling personality and a impressive résumé can only take you so far. Effective outside help should always be appreciated.

Paul Valone, President of Grass Roots North Carolina, realizes this. He just issued two open letters: one to Speaker Tim Moore of the NC House and one to Sen. Phil Berger, President Pro Tem of the NC Senate. The only difference in the letters is that the Republicans received a supermajority in the State Senate while falling one short in the House.

The letters (see an example below) remind Moore and Berger of both the efforts and the results from the independent expenditures made by the GRNC-PVF and the Judicial Fairness Project. 34 races were targeted and 27 wins recorded or nearly an 80% win rate.

They are then told of the legislative priorities for GRNC in the next session. These include permitless carry, getting rid of the pistol purchase permit, eliminating the “church carry loophole”, and protecting shooting on private property. Vetoes by Gov. Roy Cooper (D-NC) negated the wins in the last session which sought to eliminate the pistol purchase permit and allowing churches with schools to permit carry during non-school hours. Neither veto was overridden. With the supermajority in the Senate and the near supermajority in the House, chances are that a veto could be overridden this time. The letter concludes by saying Valone is confident that the Republicans will advance the rights of Second Amendment supporters.

Followup On East Henderson Youth Raffle

This is a follow-up on the FN-15 patrol rifle raffle being held by the East Henderson Youth Football and Cheer League. The “concern” offered by gun prohibitionists appears to have back-fired on them. East Henderson YFCL has now received nationwide support for their raffle and has raised much more than anticipated.

From Fox News:

“We are so grateful for the blessings that God has provided us through this ridiculous backlash,” the mother said. “We have far surpassed our goals, and now have the ability to pass those blessings on to others in need. We have read every message, transaction note and email that has come our way. The supportive messages are coming from both retired and active military personnel, law enforcement officers, firefighters, fellow youth organization leaders, teachers, lawyers, entrepreneurs and grandparents trying to save our backwards society.”

“They are thanking us for standing our ground, for volunteering our time to support our future, for loving these children, for praying over them; for teaching them to have a backbone, to stand up for what they believe in, to protect our constitutional rights and to not back down to bullying. Everyone wants to talk about bullying, but no one wants to stand up against them. When someone finally does stand up, they are the ones who are punished, not the bully. We’ve all had enough,” the mother continued.

“The truly validating thing about this entire experience is that the Second Amendment community is full of heart, compassion, safety, protection, love, honor and respect. The opposition has been disrespectful, hateful, intolerant, uninformed and often downright disgusting. Our young children do not conduct themselves in the manner that these adults have been behaving,” she added.

One of the groups that helping bring awareness to this raffle is Grass Roots North Carolina. Not only did they send out an alert to the 125,000 on their email list, their alert was published in Ammoland. It should be noted that this raffle is still open. I bought my $20 worth of tickets and would urge you to help as well.

From GRNC:

Standing for liberty can have some rewarding results. We at Grass Roots North Carolina tend to take exception to the bullies of the liberticidal left.  That’s why we decided to help out the East Henderson Youth Football and Cheerleading League (EHYFCL) in East Flat Rock, North Carolina, that which was raffling off a perfectly legal product.

Said an organization representative: “The use of the field, stadium, and facilities are not free, the lost uniforms, mouthpieces, chin straps, ear pads, bows, and socks are not free … Equipment is not free, the insurance is not free, and all the other fees the league must pay are not imaginary.”

Bless their hearts, the ‘woke’ mob leftists lost their minds over the fact that it was a –Gasp!– FN 15 Patrol Carbine M-LOK 16″, an ArmaLite 15-style rifle with a suggested retail price of $1,299.  That was just too much for the tyrannical ten percent.

Had they kept quiet about an inanimate object that only has two enemies, dust, and oxidation.  The group would have sold a few tickets, and that would have been it.

But like all the other anti-liberty authoritarian leftists down through history, they just couldn’t leave well enough alone.  Their collectivist urge to control others was just too strong, and they just had to start complaining.  

Leftist authoritarians can’t deal with the fact that people who possess what is rightfully called the modern-day musket tend to be independently minded defenders of liberty – liberals in the truest sense of the word.

Thanks to Ammoland.com, we heard of this and we acted to help them out by publicizing their raffle, causing it to go viral.

So, we find it very satisfying that tickets are selling like preverbal standard capacity hotcakes and a lot of liberty grabber lobbyists lost what is left of their minds over this.  We would like to thank them for helping out.   After all, it is a team effort, the pro-freedom community acting normally, while leftists were acting like.. leftists..

I have heard rumors locally that the gun prohibitionists that were stymied in their efforts to shut down this raffle have now turned their attention to the Henderson County Public Schools Board. As I understand it, they are trying to lobby the school board to deny this league and these kids the use of school facilities such as athletic fields as retribution.

You can let the school board know that you support these kids and the East Henderson Youth Football and Cheer League by contacting them at this link. I would mention that denying the league the use of the facilities amounts to a denial of free speech and is a violation of civil rights under the color of law which could lead to a Federal lawsuit. Just a suggestion.

Protest Against Tillis In Raleigh Starts At 10am Friday

This is just a reminder. Grass Roots North Carolina will be holding a protest outside the office of Sen. Thom Tillis (D-NC) tomorrow. It starts at 10am and will feature the hero of the Sutherland Springs Stephen Willeford.

If you can be there, be there. Information below is from GRNC

Gun Group to Picket Tillis Office 

Grass Roots NC will demonstrate against 

Tillis role in federal gun control

[Raleigh] On Friday, June 24 from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM, Grass Roots North Carolina (GRNC) will be picketing Sen. “Traitor Thom” Tillis at his district office at 310 New Bern Ave., Raleigh, NC, 27601. The focus will be Tillis’ participation in federal gun control. Additional details are available at GRNC.org

“Traitor Thom” is also a coward

To avoid the “redress of grievances” with his constituents guaranteed by the First Amendment, a Tillis staff member says they will close the office on Friday, demonstrating clearly that Tillis doesn’t want to hear from his constituents. Accordingly, Tillis is not only a traitor to the gun voters who gave him his narrow victory in the 2020 elections, but also a coward afraid to face his constituents.

Sutherland Springs hero

GRNC is bringing in Stephen Willeford, the hero who stopped the mass killing at First Baptist Church in Southerland Springs, TX by shooting and wounding the perpetrator with an AR-15 and then chasing the perpetrator’s motor vehicle to prevent him from committing further killings. Willeford will address the demonstration because his experience illustrates that only armed deterrence and intervention will stop mass killers.

Capitulation, not compromise

Democrats exploit mass killings to further their pre-ordained agenda to disarm the American public. The “solutions” they impose have no impact on mass murder.

What Republicans claim is a “compromise” negotiated by Tillis, John Cornyn (R-TX) and eight other Republicans is not a “compromise” at all because Second Amendment supporters gain nothing. In truth, it is capitulation, virtually guaranteeing that Democrats will soon demand more gun control.

GRNC position on gun control measures

GRNC opposes all measures in the Senate gun control package being voted on today, including:


♦ “Red flag” gun confiscation orders: Gun confiscation orders (GCOs) are issued in “ex parte” hearings in which the accused is not only denied the ability to defend himself in court but might not even know the order has been issued until law enforcement officers show up to confiscate his guns. In 2018, 61-year-old Gary Willis was shot by police after responding to banging on his door at 5:17 AM with a gun in hand. At least one-third of such orders are issued spuriously upon complaints by vengeful ex-spouses and other complainants with grievances. Ironically, if the person is truly dangerous, GCOs leave him at large and able to commit violence with other weapons.


So-called “boyfriend loophole”: This measure further expands the list of people prohibited from owning firearms after committing only misdemeanors rather than felonies. Although Republicans will argue the prohibition is only for five years, it creates another “loophole” which Democrats will eventually exploit to incrementally restrict private gun ownership.


♦Age restrictions and juvenile record provisions: Under these measures, an urban 20-year-old single mother living amidst rioting and looting would have a waiting period to obtain a firearm for self-protection. It represents an unconstitutional infringement on the constitutional rights of people old enough to drive, vote, and die in the service of their country.

For more information: www.GRNC.org 

GRNC And GOA Win Against Mecklenburg Sheriff

Pistol purchase permits in North Carolina should be you go to the sheriff’s office, fill out a form, pay your $5, wait 15 minutes while they run you against those in the databases, and you walk out with your permit. However, that was not the way it was happening in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. Sheriff Gary McFadden was taking upwards of a year to process some purchase permits as well as on NC Concealed Handgun Permits. He was using the pandemic as an excuse.

As a result, McFadden got sued and now a preliminary injunction is forcing him to start processing permits without further delays. This is a great win for the combination of Grass Roots North Carolina and Gun Owners of America who worked together on this.

From GRNC:

Release date:            May 9, 2022


Judge Orders Mecklenburg Sheriff to Issue Handgun Permits  Sheriff Garry McFadden enjoined by Court from delaying handgun permits

[Charlotte] In response to litigation filed by Grass Roots North Carolina (GRNC) and Gun Owners of America (GOA) over delays in handgun permits, a Superior Court judge has issued a preliminary injunction enjoining Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden from further delays.

Says the order:

“…the Court concludes as a matter of law Plaintiffs have shown a likelihood of success on the merits and are likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of injunctive relief…”

The order enjoins McFadden from: 1.    Failing to process pistol purchase permit applications within the 14 days required by North Carolina statute; 2.    Failing to process concealed handgun permit applications within the 45 days required by statute; 3.    Failing to request mental health records to process concealed handgun applications within 10 days as required by statute; and 4.    Failing to process fingerprints for concealed handgun permits within 5 business days.

To see the order, go to: https://www.grnc.org/documents/meck-prelim-injunction.pdf

Statement from GRNC president Paul Valone:

“In violation of North Carolina law, Sheriff Garry McFadden has been dragging his feet in processing North Carolina pistol purchase permits and concealed handgun permits, often taking up to a year to issue permits and preventing lawful North Carolinians from buying and carrying handguns for defense of themselves and their families.

“We believe this order sends a clear message to sheriffs in Guilford, Mecklenburg and Wake counties, among others, that obstructing lawful citizens from exercising the right to keep and bear arms will no longer be tolerated. To ensure compliance by a sheriff who has so far dragged his feet, Grass Roots North Carolina advises anyone whose fingerprints are not taken with five business days of completing a concealed handgun application to contact us immediately.”

“GRNC thanks Attorney Ron Shook for volunteering his time to litigate this case for our members. Ron is one of our ‘gun-friendly lawyers and helps people state-wide in fighting for their Second Amendment rights. Ron’s contact information can be found on our website under the ‘gun-friendly’ lawyers tab.”

Background:

For years, GRNC has received complaints from Mecklenburg County residents over unlawful delays in issuing pistol purchase permits and concealed handgun permits. Because all handgun transfers in North Carolina require either a pistol purchase permit or concealed handgun permit, lawful North Carolinians are being prevented from protecting their families at precisely the moment that violent crime is exploding around the country.

For more information: www.GRNC.org 

Keep The Pressure Up Against Chipman

Tomorrow is the committee vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee on David Chipman’s nomination to head BATFE. If you haven’t contacted your own senators, do it now. In addition, contact the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee as well. The alert from Grass Roots North Carolina has both their email contact and phone numbers.

Do it before it is too late.

THIS IS SERIOUS!!  ATF NOMINEE CHIPMAN  HAS MADE MILLION+ LOBBYING AGAINST YOUR SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHTS
IF THE CHIPMAN CONFIRMATION IS ALLOWED TO PASS IT WILL SPELL DISASTER FOR YOUR SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHTS!

Joe Biden has found a special someone who hates your liberties as much as he does and wants to have that Waco Whacko head up the ATF or is it the “AFT” (to quote Biden).  

 CHIPMAN HAS MADE IN EXCESS OF A MILLION DOLLARS LOBBYING AGAINST YOUR SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHTS!!!

When Chipman champions “gun safety” the real meaning behind the lie is ‘No firearm protection from criminals for you’ indeed, Chipman’s advice for you in these dangerous times is to”Buy stronger deadbolts for the exterior doors of your home”.  

Mr. Chipman sidled up with Mike Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety (safety for criminals only) and is a Senior Policy Advisor for Gifford’s ANTI-GUN GROUP.

What kind of a nut does Mr. Chipman have to be, to believe that the demoralized and defunded police will get to your home in time to save you in those precious seconds when death is at your door? He didn’t care about the children burned to death at Waco, no doubt he doesn’t care about YOUR safety either.

What level of fear (of someone or something) would it take to tempt any Senator to betray their oath to uphold the Constitution by confirming someone who is against YOUR right to keep and bear firearms to head up the ATF?  Chipman was unable (or unwilling) to describe to Congress what he considers to be an “assault weapon”-how could he possibly be qualified to lead the ATF ?   Someone who believes that firearms are scary and should be so heavily regulated as to make the Second Amendment useless is not qualified to do anything but lobby for the anti-gun left.

A stronger deadbolt is a road bump to disaster if you have no means to protect yourself from the criminal kicking in your door-or breaking your window. 

A FIREARM IS A SHIELD NOT A SWORD! Chipman’s worldview envisions an American populace without the means to protect itself-criminals would have no fear of immediate consequences. Senators who might vote to confirm this man must understand this danger-why would any Senator betray the Constitution they took an oath to uphold?  

 A VOTE TO CONFIRM CHIPMAN IS AN ANTI-GUN VOTE AND WE SHOULD TREAT IT AS SUCH.  CHIPMAN MUST NOT BE CONFIRMED!

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED!  

Call AND email Senators on the Judiciary Committee: The links below will take you to a website form. These are not email addresses. Just click on the link and it will take you to the form.
Dick Durbin, Chair  https://www.durbin.senate.gov/contact/email Washington, D.C. 20510  p: 202.224.2152 Springfield, IL 62703 p: 217.492.4062
Chuck Grassley    https://www.grassley.senate.gov/contact/questions-and-comments  Washington, D.C. 20510  P: 202.224.3744 Sioux City, IA 51101  P: (712) 233-1860
Patrick Leahy   https://www.leahy.senate.gov/contact  Washington, DC 20510  p: (202) 224-4242 Burlington, VT 05401  p: (802) 863-2525
Lindsey Graham    https://www.lgraham.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=contact-form Washington, DC 20510   P: (202) 224-5972 Columbia, SC 29201  P: (803) 933-0112
Dianne Feinstein  https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/e-mail-me Washington, D.C. 20510    Phone: (202) 224-3841 Fresno, CA 93721 P: (559) 485-7430
John Cornyn  https://www.cornyn.senate.gov/node/5853  Washington, DC 20510    P: 202-224-2934 San Antonio, TX 78205 P: 210-224-7485
Sheldon Whitehouse  https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/contact/email-sheldon  Washington, DC 20510       P: (202) 224-2921 Providence, RI 02903 P: (401) 453-5294
Amy Klobuchar        https://www.klobuchar.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/email-amy  Washington, DC 20510     P: 202-224-3244  Moorhead, MN 56560 P: 218-287-2219  
Chris Coons  https://www.coons.senate.gov/contact/share-your-opinion  Washington, DC 20510    P: (202) 224-5042 Dover, DE 19901 P: (302) 736-5601
Ben Sasse    https://www.sasse.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/email-ben  Washington, DC 20510      P: 202-224-4224 Kearney, NE 68845 P: 308-233-3677
Richard Blumenthal    https://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/contact  Washington DC P: (202) 224-2823
Washington, DC, 20510    P: (202) 224-2823
Josh Hawley    https://www.hawley.senate.gov/contact-senator-hawley  Washington, D.C. 20510     P: 202-224-6154 Kansas City, MO 64106 P: 816-960-4694
Mazie Hirono      https://www.hirono.senate.gov/share-your-opinion  Washington, DC 20510    P: (202) 224-6361
Honolulu, HI 96850 P: (808) 522-8970
Tom Cotton     https://www.cotton.senate.gov/contact/contact-tom   Washington, DC 20510     P: (202) 224-2353  Jonesboro, AR 72401 P: (870) 933-6223
Cory Booker    https://www.booker.senate.gov/contact/write-to-cory Washington, DC 20510       P: (202) 224-3224  Camden, NJ 08103 P: (856) 338-8922
John Kennedy    https://www.kennedy.senate.gov/public/email-me-form  Washington, DC 20510     P: (202) 224 462 Baton Rouge, LA 70809  P: (225) 926 8033
Alex Padilla      https://www.padilla.senate.gov/  Washington, DC 20510       P: (202) 224–3553 Fresno, CA 93721  P: (559) 497–5109 
Jon Ossoff        https://www.ossoff.senate.gov/contact/contact-form/ Washington, DC 20510    P: 202-224-3521 Atlanta, GA 30305 P: 470-786-7800
Marsha Blackburn   https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/email-me  Washington, DC 20510       P: (202) 224-3344 Jonesborough, TN 37659  P: (423) 753-4009

DELIVER THIS MESSAGE

Suggested Subject: Do Not Confirm David Chipman ATF Nominee

Dear Senator___________
I am contacting you today to demand that the Biden nominee for leading the ATF be rejected without compromise. David Chipman has no business leading an agency that has as it’s mission statement “…to protect communities from violent criminals, criminal organizations….” when he is so dedicated to removing the legal means of citizens to protect themselves from criminals via firearms. 

David Chipman is as anti-Second Amendment as they come and there is no place more dangerous than a gun free zone as we can see in Chicago and many other American cities right now. David Chipman is a danger to my safety and that of my family.

I will continue to monitor this important issue through alerts from Grass Roots North Carolina. Any vote for Chipman will be considered a vote against gun owners. 

Respectfully,

This Is How To Play The Game

Michael Bloomberg is spending big bucks to get his name and message out there. He is even trying to buy influence on social media with “micro-influencers” by paying them $150 to say nice things about him.

By contrast, Grass Roots North Carolina is an all volunteer organization that depends upon donations of both time and money to advance the message of freedom and gun rights.

So when Mini Mike as Trump calls him comes to town, who gets the headlines?

It was Andy Stevens, Grass Roots North Carolina, and a handful of others protesting outside the new Bloomberg 2020 headquarters in Winston-Salem.

Photo courtesy of Andy Stevens

In this case, Mini Mike himself was scarce but his campaign bus appeared in his stead. It looks like he also sent along some of his armed security staff to keep the non-elite at bay.

Photo courtesy of Andy Stevens

From the Winston-Salem Journal:

Protesters unhappy with Mike Bloomberg’s stance on gun laws greeted the Democratic presidential candidate’s campaign bus in downtown Winston-Salem, as the bus made its way on a gun-violence prevention tour across the state on Friday.

The small group of protesters gathered at the corner of Liberty and Fifth streets, right beside the Bloomberg campaign headquarters there. The protesters held up signs in support of gun rights and shouted slogans as the bus parked in front of the campaign headquarters and discharged its passengers.

“Forsyth County just passed a Second Amendment resolution, so we are in the right place at the right time,” said protest organizer Andy Stevens. Stevens went on to say that the state would “not be bought by New York money.”

Only three paragraphs in the whole article were devoted to Bloomberg’s campaign.

For a business mogul like Mini Mike, that wasn’t a great return on investment.

GRNC, by contrast, did get a great return from their few home printed signs. If you’d like to help out, you could always send a few bucks their way. I don’t think they would turn your money down!

Photo courtesy of Andy Stevens

Interview With Paul Valone Of GRNC On Guns & Gadgets

Jared Yanis of the Guns & Gadgets YouTube channel interviewed Paul Valone of Grass Roots North Carolina at the recent SHOT Show.

Paul, who is president of GRNC, made the point that North Carolina is ground zero in the fight for gun rights. Everything you have seen in Virginia could happen here.

Lawsuits by Eric Holder and Democrats over redistricting. Check.

Money from Michael Bloomberg. Check.

Growth in sanctuary counties. A good thing but still check.

Paul made the point to me in Las Vegas that Virginia had to resort to the Second Amendment Sanctuary movement. They had lost their other options. We in North Carolina are not at that point. Yet.

Everyone who attends a county sanctuary meeting needs to be registered to vote. Even more importantly, they need to recruit 10 likeminded friends and make sure they are registered to vote. Then all 11 need to vote for pro-gun candidates in both the March primaries and November general election.

The other thing they need to do is join groups like Grass Roots North Carolina to give us the money and power needed to stand up the influx of money that Michael Bloomberg has already promised will be sent to North Carolina. That $250,000 is just the beginning.

To join GRNC – even if you don’t live in North Carolina – go here. We sure could use the help!

The Virginia Effect?

I worked the Grass Roots North Carolina booth at the Land O’ Sky Gun Show in Asheville this weekend. This was the first gun show held there since July. The October gun show had been canceled due to an outbreak of Legionnaire’s Disease at the WNC Ag Center.

The crowds on both days were much higher than they have been in past years. I would put them at an equivalent level to what I saw in 2014 during the Obama years. In other words, crowded but not as crowded as just after the Sandy Hook school murders when talk of gun control and gun bans was all you heard.

I’m sure the attendance was up because the last show had been canceled. However, I’m wondering if it was up even more due to what I’ll call the Virginia Effect. North Carolina does adjoin Virginia and Asheville is due south of Bristol. People stopping by the booth did want to talk about Virginia, the Second Amendment Sanctuary movement, and open resistance.

When you hear “Come and Take It” mixed with a hint of “Boogaloo” from not just good ol’ boys but buttoned-down, white collar managerial sorts, you know the anger is real and palpable.

A nice, country club-type Republican precinct chairwoman I spoke with said with all sincerity that Buncombe County needs to become a Second Amendment Sanctuary. I know that a call has gone out to attend the February 4th Buncombe County Commissioners meeting to demand it. You have to realize that Buncombe County is much more akin to Berkeley, California than it is to Berkeley, West Virginia. When the county commissioners think sanctuary, they are thinking about ICE and illegal aliens.

I will say that people seem more willing to become active. We picked up more memberships at this show than the last couple combined. Let’s hope that the example of the people of Virginia standing up and saying “no” is the beginning of a “Great Awakening” among gun owners.